Snooker world championship day five match previews
Stephen Maguire v Stephen Lee
Maguire has been among the top players in the world for the past five seasons, and has been second for the last two campaigns. He has won over the longer-frame format, winning the 2004 UK Championship. Sheffield is a different story for him. In 2007 he led Higgins 14-10 in the semi-final, only to lose 17-15. That semi-final is his best performance at The Crucible in his career.
Lee holds four ranking events. He came close to a Masters title back in 2008, only to be whitewashed by Mark Selby in the final. Lee has fallen out of the top 16, and has had to participate in the qualifying events to get to the main stages of a competition. Maguire has the consistency of a top player, and that will be the difference between the two.
Prediction: Maguire 10-5 Lee
Shaun Murphy v Gerard Greene
Murphy has been ranked amongst the top three or four players in the world for the last few seasons. He won the UK Championship last season having not won a single match going into it. This season, he has won the Premier League, having just qualified by the skin of his teeth to the last stages.
Murphy was last year’s runner-up at Sheffield, getting a pasting from John Higgins. Murphy is also a former champion, winning in 2005. Greene’s best appearance in a ranking event is a semi-final at the Grand Prix in 2007. Other than that, he rarely threatens the big names. There won’t be an upset here, and Murphy will barely have to get out of second gear to advance.
Prediction: Murphy 10-2 Greenee He
Tags: